Forbidden Child Turns Two!

Merry October, Skirmishers!

After six years of writing, editing, and waiting, my debut novel, Forbidden Child, hit the shelves two years ago on October 24, 2023. Who knew such a stressful book could be so much fun? Many thanks to the readers who have read it, enjoyed it, and taken the time to rate it on Amazon and Goodreads. You are fabulous.

For those who don’t know…Forbidden Child is what happens when you decide ships + snow + courage + babies + Alps + Christmas + Stalin + concentration camps + rebellion against tyranny all belong in one book.

If you, too, love the idea of a 13-year-old girl (a member of the secret police) discovering an orphaned, outlawed newborn baby on a prison ship, and trying to figure out what to do with it—then I wrote Forbidden Child for you.

To celebrate FC’s second birthday, here’s a writing tip based on the biggest lesson I learned while writing this tense, wintry, dystopian adventure. Plus, stick around to the end for a few book and movie recommendations!

Writing Tip: Creating Dramatic Character Arcs

Who doesn’t love it when characters change—and change drastically? Self-absorbed playboy Tony Stark sacrifices himself for the world, proud Elizabeth Bennet sweetly accepts Mr. Darcy’s (second) proposal, poverty-stricken orphan Shasta discovers he’s actually a long lost prince. There’s something about a striking before-and-after that readers love.

But how do you create an arc that really works?

Here are three steps that have helped me create dramatic character transformations for the heroes in my own books:

Step 1. Decide the big self-revelation. When crafting my hero, I’m driven by this question: How will this person change? What will they learn? How will they evolve, devolve, or stay the same?

Since I’m writing for middle grade (wherein happy endings are standard), I know my hero can’t devolve or stay the same. They must improve. Grow. Change for the better. (Ie., they can’t be a Macbeth or a Michael Corleone.)

So, before deciding their favorite hobbies or personality quirks, I ask myself: what big self-revelation will help my hero live a better life?

I know two things: 1) This revelation must come towards the end, around the break into Act III. (If it comes any earlier, the story will be over too soon, because my hero will have nothing left to learn.) 2) This revelation must be huge, sudden, and life-changing as the hero suddenly sees herself and the world in a whole new light.

Example:

(STOP READING if you don’t want spoilers for Forbidden Child!) 

For Piper Pascal, the self-revelation is her realization that she needs to get off the ship. She can’t just quietly defy the Godmother, she needs to run away. Flee everything she has ever known. Abandon the world of lies, tyranny, and murder that created her and almost consumed her. She needs to jump ship, even when she knows her chances of survival on the open ocean are slim to none.

Boom—now I have my target.

Step 2. Pull your character as far back from that self-revelation as they can go. After you nail down your Big Self-Revelation, rewind. If this is the drastic change for your character at the end, where should they begin? Answer: They should begin as far away from this change as possible. Whoever they need to be at the end, make them the opposite at the beginning.

If Piper finally decides to jump ship, but she’s been a cocky, rebellious, independent Han Solo type girl all along, this decision isn’t that dramatic. (Han Solo would have jumped ship years ago!) We need to pull Piper all the way back. She must be a girl who would never dream of jumping ship—a girl who loves the Godmother and would die before disobeying her.

So I made Piper a fervent, loyal, fanatic, die-hard patriot of the ship, the kind of patriot Hitler would have been proud of.

This way, she doesn’t just abandon ship—she abandons who she was. Her big self-revelation includes realizing she has been a monster, and she must repent of all of it.

Step 3: Plot the in-between points. Once you know where your character ends, and where they begin, decide how to get them from A to B. What changes their mind? What rock in their shoe starts them on the path to change? What are the story beats that propel them towards the self-revelation?

I put a few rocks in Piper’s shoe:

1) Years ago, a little boy saw her in trouble, lied on her behalf, and took her punishment—bravely dying in her stead. She can’t get this sacrifice out of her mind. Why would someone do that? She feels guilty, confused, disturbed. She’s been brain-washed into believing it’s every man for himself. Life is a matter of obeying the rules and being better than everyone else so you can beat them to a reward. If you want something, you must fight and claw your way to the top to get it. No mercy. No grace. No self-sacrifice. When this boy dies for her, it tells Piper: “Here’s another way the world could work. It’s called My Life for Yours.”

2) Piper misses her parents, who died in prison for paltry crimes. She yearns to have a family. And no matter how fanatic she feels now, deep down she regrets that people must die for such small transgressions.

3) She’s naive. She has never witnessed an execution, and the death of Issachar Stevens shocks her. This primes her to rebel against the ship, step by step.

After that, I simply made Piper feel increasing sympathy for the baby and increasing horror at her life. Her eyes are opened. I cranked up her love for the baby while also cranking up the evil around her…until the lightning bolt of truth strikes: She must get off the ship.

Tada! Now how can you give your hero a dramatic arc?

What I’m Reading

Carpe Jugulum and Lords and Ladies - I’m delighted to report that Terry Pratchett isn’t just funny, he also knows how to write scary villains. The elves in Lords and Ladies and the vampires in Carpe Jugulum are going on my list of creepy, powerful bad guys to emulate. (Carpe Jugulum in particular just soared to my list of top 5 Pratchetts. Agnes and Mightily Oats were fantastic new characters, and Granny Weatherwax is as stellar as always.)

Treasure Hunters (book 1) by James Patterson - I read this because I wanted to know what’s been done in the “we’re kids and we’re treasure-hunters” genre. Turns out, this book belongs in the “I’m just your next fun airport read” genre, but it was alright as far as that went. If your kid needs some brain candy in Mexico during spring break, this will do just fine.

True Grit - Loved it. Best monologue I’ve ever read. The story is good, but Mattie’s voice is gold. It made me want to write a memoir told by someone as prim, bold, opinionated, and unselfconsciously funny as she—no matter the plot.

What Moves the Wind? - Gorgeously written and illustrated by my sister Kate Walker, this is a delightful kids’ book about two young brothers trying to solve the mystery of the wind. Where does it come from? Where does it go? What color is it? How big is it? And who commands it anyway? Awesome for toddlers and young readers, 2-6. (My 21-month-old loves it.) Get it on Amazon!

The Secret of the Wild Wood by Tonke Dragt - Doesn’t boast the same story grip or single-minded focus as The Letter for the King, but still plenty of chivalrous fun. Great for both girls and boys.

What I’m Watching

The new Superman movie - Beyond idiotic. I couldn’t spew this out of my mouth fast enough.

The Lost Bus - Matthew McConaughey does an amazing job as a down-and-out father/bus-driver in this true story about the horrific fire that ripped through Paradise, California, a few years ago. The movie praises good fathers and lauds sacrificial responsibility. The action (intense, not gory) has that gritty, you-are-there intensity that has made director Paul Greengrass famous. WATCH IT. Great for the family if your kids can handle scary fire scenes, and if you don’t mind a few F bombs.

The Fall Guy - Hilarious, clever, meta, and just a barrel of fun. Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt are both gold, the cinematography is a treat, and I’ll never forget the black guy hurling the tomahawk, shouting: “DANIEL DAY-LEWIS!” This reference to The Last of the Mohicans (my favorite movie) was very pleasing. Oh, and you simply can’t beat Ryan Gosling’s recommendation that Aaron Taylor-Johnson eat some carbs. The Fall Guy is your next fun Friday night flick.

That’s all for now! See you in November.

Cheers,
Gwen